Chalice (Cáliz)

Spanish Colonial Art
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Chalice (Cáliz)

Mexico City, 1575-1578
Furnishings; Serviceware
Silver gilt, rock crystal, wood, and feathers
Height: 13 in. (33 cm); diameter: 9 in. (22.9 cm)
William Randolph Hearst Collection (48.24.20)
Decorative Arts and Design
Not currently on public view

Provenance

Lionel “Spanish” Harris, Chesterfield Gardens, London, c. 1912–1920s; William Randolph Hearst, c. 1920s; Los Angeles Museum of History, Science, and Art (LACMA’s parent institution), 1948.

Label

Combining precious metals, feathers, boxwood carvings, and rock crystal, the “Hearst Chalice” stands out as one of the most complex works of sixteenth-century Mexican silversmithing.

...

Combining precious metals, feathers, boxwood carvings, and rock crystal, the “Hearst Chalice” stands out as one of the most complex works of sixteenth-century Mexican silversmithing. Used in ancient times and invested with sacred meaning, these materials were redeployed to create Christian objects, demonstrating an important level of agency for Native artists as they staked their place in the new body politic. Although mostly deteriorated, the feathers would have glistened with ambient light and motion, helping channel the spirit of the divine.


From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by Ilona Katzew and Rachel Kaplan in the accompanying publication, cat. no. 15, pp. 100–06)
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Bibliography

  • Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
  • Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
  • Katzew, Ilona, and Rachel Kaplan. “‘Like the Flame of Fire’: A New Look at the ‘Hearst’ Chalice.” Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture 3, no. 1 (2021): 4–29.
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  New York: Thames and Hudson, 2003.
  • Rishel, Joseph J., and Suzanne L. Stratton, eds. The Arts in Latin America, 1492-1820. Exh. Cat. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art; Mexico City: Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso; and Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2006.
  • Levkoff, Mary L., ed. Hearst the collector. Exh. Cat. New York: Abrams and Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2008.
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Exhibition history

  • Contested Visions in the Spanish Colonial World Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, November 6, 2011 - January 29, 2012
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800 Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
  • Contested Visions in the Spanish Colonial World Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, November 6, 2011 - January 29, 2012
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800 Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800 Nashville, TN, Frist Art Museum, October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
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